15 Things You Never Knew About High School Musical

In 2006, High School Musical was dominating the world’s tweens and teens with it’s boppy songs, silly storyline, and a batch of young Hollywood actors who were just getting their start. Since the franchise came to an end, we’ve watched Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale sky rocket to super fame, but none of us will ever forget where it all began. Even if you’ve seen the movie a zillion times and can still sing “Bop To The Top” without any hesitation, here are 15 facts you probably didn’t know about HSM!

1. High School Musical wasn’t supposed to be the final name for the movie, but over the course of filming it stuck.

2. Ashley Tisdale originally auditioned for the role of Gabriella, but after being asked to audition for Sharpay, Ashley channeled the role of Regina George from Mean Girls to land the role.

3. Speaking of Sharpay, the role of Tiara Gold (aka Sharpay’s evil assistant in High School Musical 3) was originally offered to Selena Gomez, who turned it down.

4. Troy Bolton’s signature trademark in all three movies, is looking at an invisible watch on his wrist.

5. Even though he wasn’t in the scene, Lucas Grabeel learned the choreography for “Getcha Head In The Game” because it was his favorite dance.

6. There was a jar on set for the cast and crew to put money in if they were caught yawning. At the end of filming, the money was donated to charity.

7. The school mascot was originally written to be a leopard, not a wildcat.

8. One of the players on the Wildcats in the championship game wore a jersey with the word “extra” on the back. LOL.

9. The idea for High School Musical came from a 1999 Grease 3 script.

10. The first film’s soundtrack was the best-selling album of 2006 in the United States.

11. At the end of “What Time Is It,” Zac came up with the iconic dance move to slide across the floor.

12. East High School was an actual real school. When filming was happening, classes were still going on for real students.

13. Lucas Grabeel was working at Blockbuster video before he auditioned for HSM.

14. Corbin Bleu chose 8 to be his basketball jersey number because it’s his favorite.

15. Sterling Knight auditioned for the role of Troy Bolton, which went to Zac, and a few years later he played Zac’s son in the movie 17 Again!